VA - Hope (A Butterboy Compilation) (4 x CDs)

HOPE

VA - Hope (A Butterboy Compilation) (4 x CDs)

When I began this project, I thought I was making a compilation about hope. The further I went, the more I realised that I first had to work out what hope actually means.

The word is everywhere. We hope things will improve... We hope tomorrow will be better... We hope everything will work out... But there is a danger in that version of hope. It can become passive. Something we feel while waiting for somebody else to change the world.

That wasn't the compilation I wanted to make. The idea that eventually became the DNA of these four CDs was simple, Hope requires action. Or, more bluntly, action delivers hope.

That changed my entire selection process.

This isn't a collection of songs that simply mention hope, optimism or a better future. Every track had to earn its place by contributing to a larger argument about what human beings can do when they refuse to become apathetic.

CD1 - Love, The Antidote to Apathy - begins with the most basic requirement, caring about other people. Love here isn't primarily romantic. It means compassion, friendship, empathy, responsibility and the willingness to see somebody else's suffering. It asks us to notice, to help and ultimately to change ourselves.

CD2 - The World as It Is - removes the comfortable distance. Before hope can have meaning, we have to look honestly at poverty, racism, war, exploitation, environmental destruction and political repression. These aren't abstract problems. They happen to real people. Hope cannot begin by looking away.

CD3 - Action - asks the unavoidable question, what are we going to do about it? This is where awareness becomes participation. The songs insist that ordinary people matter, that collective action matters, and that refusing to surrender is itself a form of resistance.

CD4 - The Future We Make - this is not the promise that everything will be all right. It is about rebuilding, reconciliation, responsibility, regeneration and protecting something worth saving. It asks what happens when hope becomes something we actually do.

The four CDs therefore form a journey: CARE → SEE → ACT → BUILD.

And the final track, Bob Marley & The Wailers' “Redemption Song,” is included so it leaves us with no easy escape. After listening to everything prior, the responsibility passes from the music to us.

I don't want this collection to leave you simply feeling inspired. I want it to make you think. Because perhaps hope isn't believing that someone will make the world better. 

Perhaps hope is deciding that you will help make it better yourself. (B)

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Track lists

CD1

01 Youngbloods - Get Together 4:37 2007

02 Sarah Blasko - Without 3:55 2009

03 Carole King - You've Got a Friend 5:03 1971

04 John Prine - Hello in There 4:30 1971

05 Cat Stevens - Peace Train 4:11 1971

06 Korgis - That's What Friends Are for (Unplugged) 3:12 1980

07 Hollies - He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother 4:20 1969

08 Band - The Weight 4:37 1968

09 Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water 4:53 1970

10 Bill Withers - Lean on Me 3:48 1972

11 Bruce Springsteen - If I Should Fall Behind 2:57 1992

12 Leonard Cohen - Anthem 6:09 1992

13 R.E.M. - Everybody Hurts 5:18 1992

14 Tracy Chapman - Change 5:05 1988

15 Michael Jackson - Man in the Mirror 5:19 1987

16 Ben Harper - With My Own Two Hands 4:34 2002

17 Crosby Stills Nash & Young - Teach Your Children 2:55 1970

18 Anohni feat. Antony and The Johnsons - It Must Change 4:53 2023

19 Marvin Gaye - What's Going On 3:53 1971

20 Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush - Don't Give Up 5:39 1986

CD2

01 Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit 3:11 1939

02 Woody Guthrie - I Ain't Got No Home (In This World Anymore) 3:29 1940

03 Buffy Sainte-Marie - The Universal Soldier 2:18 1964

04 John Lennon - Working Class Hero 3:48 1970

05 Stevie Wonder - Living for The City 7:21 1973

06 Curtis Mayfield - (Don't Worry) If There's A Hell Below We're All Going to Go 7:04 1970

07 Gil Scott-Heron - Whitey on The Moon 1:57 1970

08 Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Message 6:32 1982

09 Specials - Ghost Town 3:42 1981

10 Robert Wyatt - Shipbuilding 3:04 1982

11 Linton Kwesi Johnson - Sonny's Lettah (Anti-Sus Poem) 3:54 1979

12 Peter Tosh - Equal Rights 5:59 1977

13 Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning 4:16 1987

14 Fela Kuti & Africa 70 - Zombie 12:26 1976

15 Miriam Makeba - Soweto Blues 4:16 1977

16 Sinéad O'connor - Black Boys on Mopeds 3:54 1990

17 Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi 2:15 1970

18 Sting - They Dance Alone (Cueca Solo) 7:15 1987

19 Bob Dylan - Masters of War 4:34 1963

20 Nina Simone - Mississippi Goddam 4:57 1964

CD3

01 Bruce Cockburn - Lovers in A Dangerous Time 4:06 1984

02 Sweet Honey in the Rock - Ella's Song 5:50 1981

03 Neville Brothers - Sister Rosa 3:34 1989

04 Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - Wake Up Everybody 3:40 1975

05 Pete Seeger - If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song) 1:53 1959

06 Billy Bragg - There is Power in A Union 2:50 1986

07 Special A.K.A. - Free Nelson Mandela 4:08 1984

08 James Brown - Say it Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud) Part 1 3:01 1968

09 Sly & the Family Stone - Stand! 4:13 1969

10 Jewel - Hands 3:17 1998

11 Andra Day - Rise Up 4:13 2015

12 Hugh Masekela - Mandela (Bring Him Back Home) 5:12 1987

13 Common & John Legend - Glory 4:32 2014

14 Patti Smith - People Have the Power 5:06 1988

15 Graham Nash - Chicago,  We Can Change The World 4:01 1971

16 Mavis Staples - We'll Never Turn Back 4:06 2007

17 Curtis Mayfield - Move on Up 2:45 1970

18 Staple Singers - Respect Yourself 3:32 1971

19 Elvis Presley - If I Can Dream 3:17 1969

20 Labi Siffre - (Something Inside) So Strong 4:16 1987

CD4

01 Sam Cooke - A Change is Gonna Come 3:13 1964

02 Jimmy Cliff - You Can Get it If You Really Want 2:44 1970

03 Jackie DeShannon - Put a Little Love in Your Heart (Mono) 2:42 1969

04 Judds - Love Can Build A Bridge 5:23 1990

05 Cherry Ghost - People Help The People 3:59 2007

06 John Lennon - Only People 3:19 1973

07 Diana Ross - Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand) 3:00 1970

08 U2 - One 4:34 1991

09 Sounds of Blackness - Optimistic 3:47 1991

10 Bruce Springsteen - The Rising 4:47 2002

11 Garth Brooks - The Change 4:07 1995

12 Daryl Braithwaite - Higher Than Hope 4:59 1991

13 Graeme Connors - We Can Change the World 5:26 1990

14 Dolly Parton - Light of a Clear Blue Morning 4:56 1977

15 Allman Brothers Band - Soulshine 6:44 1994

16 Santana - Let The Children Play 2:37 1977

17 World Party - Put The Message in The Box 4:16 1990

18 Matisyahu - One Day 3:26 2008

19 Louis Armstrong - What A Wonderful World (Single Version) 2:18 1967

20 Bob Marley - Redemption Song 3:48 1980

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Music weaves itself into the fabric of our emotions, dances through the corridors of memory, and whispers to the soul of who we are. Sharing these stories deepens the connection, turning the experience into something timeless and profound.

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